Damaged
by canadianhplover
Summary: "How can you possibly want to be with her? She's a disaster." Scorpius looked at Albus.  "Because it's like how you and Rose are. She brings you up, and you bring her down. You even each other. Laura... she let's be me. I don't have to pretend around her.
1. Chapter 1

Laura's favourite part of the day was just after dinner and the dishes have been done, and the hot summer sun begins to sink in the sky. She and her twin sister would go for a walk through the wheat fields and talk. Sometimes they didn't say anything and sometimes they could hardly shut up long enough to hear each other. Every day, since they were twelve years old during the summer this is what they did. It's how they made it up to each other, how they would compensate for the nine months they were apart.

"Do you even know what you're going to do after this year? Because I don't. I know mum and dad want me to go to University, I mean that's what I've planned to do for years, but I don't even know what I want to study." Leah, her sister frowned.

"Study history," Laura suggested. "Or study music – you're a really good singer and you play guitar. Study music." She prompted, deflecting Leah's original question. Although she knew pretty much everything about the magical world, she didn't quite understand based on the fact she had never really seen it first-hand. How was Laura going to explain to her sister her occupations options?

She laughed. "That is just for fun, I couldn't do it seriously. I mean, I would love to but I have nothing to say. I haven't really lived enough to."

"Maybe that's what you should do, live. Take a year off, travel, live a little." Laura told her.

"What about you? Don't think I didn't notice that little deflection." She nudged Leah in the arm.

"And don't try to dumb it down, I want to know what my baby sister is going to do with her life."

"We're the same age." Laura reminded.

"I've five minutes older, and you act like the baby so let's not start this argument." Leah smirked.

"I don't know... I could be a Healer." Laura said half-heartedly. She didn't really have any interest in being a Magical doctor.

"A doctor? Really?" Leah cocked an eyebrow at her sister.

"Okay, no, not really. I just... that's what I told my Head of House in fifth year. You have this meeting and they ask you what you want to do. I said I wanted to be a Healer because I didn't really know anything else. All the jobs you have to be really good at something. Healer, Auror, writer, teacher? I'm not any of those things. I get average grades in every subject. They are so average that I pretty much had no idea what to go into a career for because there is nothing standing out as the best option. Even my Head of House thought so. She just asked me point blank what subject do I like best, and I shrugged. I have to be the worst Witch ever." Laura said, defeated.

"That can't be true. You just said you got average grades. What do you get? B's, that's okay, that's what I get at school. Average doesn't mean you aren't intelligent enough, it just means that school is something you've adapted to but-"

"Leah, it's okay. I don't need you to build me up. By the end of the year I'll have it figured out."

Laura assured her. It was sweet, she was doing what she always does when Laura beat herself up. But it never really works, Laura never feels more confident. Perhaps more confident in their relationship considering for a long time it was strained and competitive. They were always trying to out-due each other, show who was the better, smarter, cooler, nicer, meaner, prettier sister. They were twins, they've been compared their whole lives.

"Who knows you could be a singer with me." Leah grinned.

"Shut up, we both know you're the better singer. No use rubbing it in my face."

"That's because you went off to school and stopped singing. If you sang more you'd be just as good, we both know that." There she went, building Laura up again. And before she knew it Leah began singing their favourite traditional, Red is the Rose. Joining in, they lavished in their perfectly harmonized voices, something learned from the many years they had sung together. Laura would only sing with her sister for this reason.

As they walked down the long dirt road through the wheat fields their father planted every year, Laura stared into the setting sun's light, squinting as she did so and enjoyed it's warmth before it disappeared. Her sister skipped ahead in the dirt, her dark straight brunette hair trailing behind her. Following her lead, Laura began to skip after her sister, her curly brown hair whipping her face as she ran. The only difference in their appearance was their hair, and yet Samantha felt it set them completely apart.

"Slow down!" Laura yelled as her sister ran ahead. Picking up her pace to keep up, Leah turned to look at her and laugh. "I hate you!" Laura shouted, and watched as her sister laughed. Then, as Leah turned around to keep running she stopped. She was on her feet for a second and then she landed on the ground hard. Dust rose up around her, and Laura raced to see if her sister was okay. "Leah! Leah! Are you okay? What happened?"

Laura skidded next to her sister and knelt down next to her. Rolling Leah on to her back Laura shook her madly. Her eyes were open but didn't seem to register anything, something was missing. She wasn't there.

"Leah!" Laura screamed, becoming frantic. "Leah wake up! Wake up!"

With a start Albus sat up in bed. He was sweating, and his entire body ached. At once he regretted sitting up so quickly as a wave of nausea hit him. Someone had placed a rubbish bin next to his bed and he grabbed it just in time to retch. His heart pounding, his throat rough he put the bin down and took a sip of water from the glass next to his bed. That had to have been his father. Rubbing is jaw that was sore, he put the glass back. Lying back down, Albus pushed the heavy blankets off his body. He was shaking, and once again he took a sip of his water. Putting his fingers to his neck he felt his pulse, almost as if his heart was in his throat. He couldn't remember ever feeling this hung-over before and he regretted the last fire whiskey shot of the night.

"You alright mate?" Albus became aware that his best mate, Scorpius Malfoy was also in his room, most likely on a cot. "I bet you're regretting that last fire whiskey." He chuckled from somewhere in the darkness.

Gripping his wand tightly, Albus shut his eyes and whispered, "Lumos."

Through his eyelids he could see the light of his wand fill the room, and shielding his eyes he prepared for the intensity. He could hardly open his eyes, wincing as the light hurt his head.

"It's not even six in the morning, go back to bed." Scorpius grumbled.

Testing the light again, Albus succeeded this time at opening his eyes. Looking at Scorpius with blurry eyes (he couldn't see his glasses anywhere) he let the first question in his mind slip out. "What the hell happened? I don't remember anything after my fifth drink."

"Exactly," Scorpius sniggered.

"Git," Albus grumbled, and Scorpius rolled over to face him.

"You had another drink, danced like a moron, tried to snog with Charlotte Wood – which is why your jaw is probably sore right now. She punches pretty hard. Then you spent most of the evening drinking more and hiding from Lewis who wanted you dead for hitting on his sister. I found you by the pond with half a bottle of fire whiskey mumbling about how much you loved me, and then proceeded to hug everyone and tell them you loved them until your dad helped me get you into your bed. All in all you did a superb job of embarrassing yourself." Scorpius summarized.

"What a shit birthday." Albus sat back in bed, and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Cold now he pulled the covers back over him.

"Best seventeenth birthday I've ever been to."

"I drank more than James."

"I wasn't aware that it was a contest."

"You don't have brother's."

"Thank Merlin because I would not want to be you. Your mother is going to kill you tomorrow."

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"Well can you do it quietly? I'm trying to sleep."

Albus heaved once more into the bin, and drank some more water. Rubbing his jaw, he curled into a pull and waved his wand. The light went out, and he looked out the window. The sky was a dark grey, and the sun would be rising into the sky soon. Trying hard to remember the night before he couldn't remember a single thing. He remembered greeting his family and friends. His cousins and all of their friends had been invited, and there had been a Quidditch match before everyone got too intoxicated. The last thing he remembered was having a drink Charlotte Wood, and he guessed it was shortly after that when he tried snogging her.

It was just after noon when Albus woke up again. Scorpius was gone, probably with Rose laughing about his stupidity from the night before. It was all he could do to get out of bed and make it into the shower. Leaning against the cold tile, he closed his eyes. He felt like such a crap. What a waste of a birthday.

"Oh Al, darling!" James burst into the loo, and Albus cringed at the booming voice of his brother.

"Go away," Albus.

"Oh I certainly will but after I let you know, mum says to hurry up she needs to talk to you." James couldn't hide the excitement from his voice. Nothing made him happier than watching his brother getting in trouble from their mother.

Albus moaned.

"Don't worry Alby, I'm sure she won't rough you up too much."

"Shut up please," Albus groaned rubbing his temples. Standing directly under the water he couldn't hear the last words his brother said before leaving the loo. Albus could already hear in his head the voice of his mother. Nothing scared him more than his mother's wrath. He never wanted to leave the comfort of his shower. But as he felt his fingers and toes prune he stepped out.

After dressing and drinking more water Albus began to feel a little better. His stomach continued to spin but if he could sneak into his mother's potions before she reamed him out he could fix that and be in the best shape to face his mother. Sneaking downstairs was the hardest part as he had to skip the squeaky steps on his way to the kitchen. It was all in vain anyway, as Albus went to sneak into the kitchen he found his mother, hands on hip waiting for him.

"Morning mum," he swallowed hard.

"Sit down."

It was almost like her lips hadn't moved. Albus did as he was told. "You look lovely this morn-"

"Albus Potter don't try to sweet talk your way out of this. What were you thinking getting drunk last night? Your entire family was at that party! Thank goodness for Scorpius, he managed to get you to stop drinking and get you inside before you caused anymore damage to your liver! Do you want to tell me what you were thinking Albus Sirius Potter?"

"Uhhh," Albus suddenly felt like he was nine again getting scolded for setting his brother's hair on fire when he made fun of him for needing glasses.

"You better start talking soon Mr. Potter-"

"Really mum? 'Mr. Potter' – that's what they call dad." Albus complained.

"Well since you seem incapable of giving me an answer you can go start de-gnoming the garden." Mrs. Potter was a force to be reckoned with, and after shoving a piece of toast down his throat and some tea he begrudgingly went out into the back garden and frowned at the sight of all the gnomes running for cover at the sight of him.

"If it isn't Albus the alcoholic." Said a flowery voice.

"Don't you have someone else to annoy, Lily?" Albus grumbled when he saw his sister. She was holding James' broom, and looked all sweaty. "Practising again?"

"Yeah, since Lewis Wood graduated they need a new keeper." Lily shifted uncomfortably.

"You should get James to help you practise," Albus suggested.

"I would but, you know..." Lily shrugged.

"You want to do it on your own." Albus said, reading her mind.

"Exactly," Lily laughed. "So, you want some help?"

Albus looked at the garden, and spotted an evil looking gnome hiding behind his mother's flutterby bush. "Nah, this will be good for me. You know, teach me my lesson not to drink so much."

Lily laughed. "Wait until dad gets home, he'll save you."

Albus smiled, but felt too sick to his stomach to say anything more. A wave of nausea hit him, and he had to lean over so he wouldn't keel over.

"Whoa, did mum not give you anything?" Lily put James' broom down and went over to see if Albus was okay.

"I think she wanted me to feel the full pain." Albus tried to laugh but he felt too sick to do so.

"I'll be right back." Lily disappeared and Albus heard the back door slam. A few minutes later Lily reappeared with a bottle of Grandma Weasley's Hung-over cure – a brew their great-great grandmother had concocted and cured the drinker of hangover symptoms within minutes after drinking. Albus took it greedily from his sister and uncorked the bottle. Drinking a more than necessary amount, Albus handed the vial to Lily and grinned. "Better?" she asked.

"I feel all new and shiny."

"You're so odd," Lily laughed. Picking up James' broom she turned to the house. "Have fun de-gnoming the garden."

Two hours, and seven gnomes later Albus decided it was time to go cool off. Walking down the path towards the forest where the pond was, he was happy to see that Scorpius and Rose were there. Rose was reading a book – typical – while Scorpius seemed to be trying to catch fish with his wand. When they heard him walking down the path both Rose and Scorpius stopped what they were doing and waited for him to join them.

"Please don't start," Albus told Rose warningly. She had a big grin on her face and poked Albus in the side playfully.

"You look pretty alive for someone who drank three quarters of a fire whiskey bottle." Rose teased.

"Scorpius said I only drank half a bottle!" Albus looked to his mate, surprised.

Scorpius shrugged. "You had only drank half, you got some more in you by time you got to bed. Your father had to practically hold you down while I pulled the bottle out of your head. As your best mate, I should really tell you that you're not allowed to drink anymore."

"I wonder how long I'm going to have to live this one down." Albus said, taking a seat next to Rose on the blanket she was sitting on. Scorpius took his other side. "Can you believe we start school tomorrow?"

"Can you believe my mother hasn't swooped in and taken me home yet?" Scorpius said, looking at his watch.

"You're sister is probably pre-occupying her." Rose said passively.

"Very likely, Andromeda has been a brat lately." Scorpius agreed, speaking of his nine year old sister.

"Lately?" Rose laughed.

"You two seemed to have missed my point." Albus looked at his mate and cousin. "We start Seventh year tomorrow, our last year at Hogwarts. It feels like we just finished first year."

"Stop being so nostalgic. It's sad." Rose nudged her cousin.

"I saw Lily practising – does James know?" Scorpius asked.

"No... maybe. I don't know, it's James he probably won't think it's real until she writes to him that she got onto the team." Albus shrugged.

"Will she get on?" Scorpius asked.

"Of course she will, she just never wanted to try-out as James' little sister. I'd say she's as good, if not better than Lewis." Rose concluded.

"You don't even know anything about Quidditch," Scorpius laughed.

"I grew up in a crazy Quidditch loving family, and everyone besides my mother talks and plays Quidditch – I am the smartest witch in our year! Do you really think I know absolutely nothing about Quidditch? Really Scorpio?" Rose narrowed her eyes

Scorpius cringed at the nickname, and Albus prepared himself for another epic fight between his two best friends. Before they could even begin he stood up quickly and walked over to the pond. He could see fish bathing in the dwindling sunshine and the Grindylow's were hiding in the weeds. The pond was fairly large for a pond, about three kilometres round but was almost eight feet deep in the centre. It was mostly sand, except near the middle where it was thick with weeds and the Grindylow's lived. They had a Kelpie once living in the pond back when Albus and his siblings had been young. They didn't know about it until it appeared one day by the pond. James was eleven, and he was almost ten and they wouldn't let Lily play Quidditch with them because she was eight and small for her age. She got upset and ran to the pond where the Kelpie was in its horse form.

Albus could still hear his sister's scream in his head when he thought about it. James and Albus had stopped playing Quidditch and flew straight to the pond where they saw the Kelpie dragging her into the water. Together they raced into the water to save her, screaming and yelling. In the water they fought the Kelpie, but it had been hard. Albus felt helpless pulling on his sisters arm as James kicked and fought the Kelpie screaming for help. Albus wouldn't let go of Lily even when James went up to get air. Albus was feeling faint, he had needed air but his sister felt limp in his hand and he couldn't let go.

Their parents had heard their screams and rushed to the lake. Albus was pulled away from Lily, and suddenly he was in the arms of his mother, gasping for air. There was a flash of light, but his mother's grip was so tight on him that he couldn't see where Lily was. He tried fighting his mother but she wouldn't let go, and once they were on shore they sat on the ground watching as his father reappeared holding Lily in his arms. James was standing in the water, and rushed over to their father asking if Lily was okay repeatedly. His mother was shaking and Albus started to cry. She wasn't moving, and his father laid her in the wet grass. She was blue. James tried to shake her awake, but their mother pulled him close and he started to cry. Albus and James watched as their father, Harry Potter, did everything he could and after performing a spell their sister coughed and was alive. Finally their mother let go of Albus and James and they crawled towards their sister hugging her.

"Albus stop being weird," Scorpius shouted from the grass where he was now lying down. Rose was smirking, she was reading again.

"I'm not being weird." Albus smiled and went back over to where they were sitting. The sun was starting to set, and Albus wondered where the day had gone. Probably because he had slept through most of it.

"He is always weird, you know that." Rose teased.

"Thanks Rose, you're so supportive."

"Glad to have helped." Rose laughed again, and stood up. "Come on, let's go inside before your mum yells for us. Dinner should be ready."

"Yes Ma'am," Scorpius saluted Rose and followed her lead.

Albus gave a small laugh, and watched as his friend started walking up the path. Rose said something to Scorpius and Albus assumed she was probably teasing him. It would only be a matter of months before the two of them started dating, Albus was waiting for it. It was in sixth year when Albus started hanging out with Scorpius. Rose had been paired with Scorpius in potions, and once they became friends Albus had started talking to him to. He quickly came to realize that he and Scorpius had a lot in common.

"Albus stop being weird!" Rose yelled this time. She and Scorpius were both standing at the end of the path looking at him with an odd look. Albus nodded and hurried after them. One day he wouldn't be weird, he hoped.


	2. Chapter 2

buDamaged Chapter Two:

Laura Smith/b/u

Albus sat back in the leather chair, a glass of water in his hand, and let his feet warm by the fire. Around him, his fellow Gryffindor's were partying loudly, and drinking heavily. He watched his sixteen year old sister, Lily, sip on her second drink while Alex Jordan tried to make his move. Lily had a little amused smile on her face that probably read to Alex as a good thing but Albus knew his sister, and he knew that look meant she was waiting for the perfect moment to blow him off gently and maybe even get another drink out of it. She was smart and pretty, and Albus liked that she didn't just date anyone.

"I hope she can find someone who she actually wants to date someday." Rose said, sitting in the chair next to Albus. She caught Lily's eye, and the girls shared a knowing grin. Alex turned to look and gave a smug smile, but quickly looked back to Lily when he saw Albus cross his arms over his chest protectively. Seconds later Alex said something to Lily and moved away from her to go talk to his friends. Lily laughed, and went over to her brother and cousin. "That was too funny," Rose laughed.

"I almost got a third drink out of him," Lily said wistfully.

"You should go easy on the drinking." Albus warned, taking a sip of water.

"Really Albus? Says the boy who's drinking water – and for what reason exactly?" Lily teased, leaning against the chair where Rose sat. She slumped next to Rose and leaned her head against her cousins.

"You're drunk," said a voice, and Albus turned to see that Scorpius had arrived. He was wearing his Slytherin robes proudly despite the majority of students having changed into Muggle clothes.

"And you couldn't change?" Lily slurred standing up again. "Just had to wear your Slytherin robes in here."

"You're lucky she's drunk or she'd probably be hex you." Rose mused.

"No were lucky Al here is drinking water – water? Really? It's the annual Gryffindor Welcome Back party and you're drinking water?" Scorpius couldn't hold a grin from his face.

"Can we all please get over the fact that I am drinking water. I'm still feeling a little rough from the last time I drank." Albus defended. Lily giggled, and took a sip from her drink. One of her friends, Meredith Brooke appeared at her side and Albus watched as they both disappeared into the crowd of dancing students.

"So Rose, would you care to dance with me?" Scorpius asked, looking at Rose.

Albus looked between Scorpius and Rose in disbelief. Rose, also surprised, looked caught off guard and seemed to be unable to speak. She didn't have to because Scorpius seemed to take this as a yes and reached out for her hand. Stunned, Albus watched with a gaping mouth as Rose took his hand and the two joined the throng of dancers laughing as they went.

"Did that really just happen?" Albus said to know no one in particular. Taking another sip of his water he wished it was something more. The music seemed to grow louder, and everyone's voices became braver. Albus had thought that the party wouldn't be anything great especially since his brother and his friends had graduated. They were the ones to start the parties, and the reason why all houses were invited. They had called themselves the Marauders (after the many stories his father had told James) and were comprised of all of James' closest friends and family. Albus had to admit, it was strange being at school without his brother and cousins, Fred, Louis, Lucy and their friend Lewis Wood running around to cause mayhem.

The common room was packed to capacity and it would probably go on for several hours, and Albus really needed a drink or solitude so he could make it through the night. Getting up, Albus put his glass down and made his way to the portrait hole. When he reached the door another wave of tipsy sixth year Hufflepuff's entered the Common Room.

"Potter!" Mathew Corner exclaimed when he saw Albus.

"Oh hey, how was your summer?" Albus greeted, trying not to act distracted. Mathew was on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and by the shiny badge on his robes he had been made captain for his sixth year.

"Just great, wonderful, would you know where your sister is?" Mathew slurred.

Albus blinked at Mathew, and pointed behind him to the crowd of students. "In there, good luck." With that Albus pushed past Mathew and his friends and entered the corridor. Sighing a breath of relief, he let the cool air hit him, and enjoyed that the party was now a distant sound. There were a few groups of students in the hall all coming and going to the party. Looking out the window it he saw that the sky was clear, and Albus trusted that since it was still September that it would be warm to go for a walk in just his jumper.

Heading towards the entrance hall, Albus made sure to check his watch every few minutes. He had about an hour before curfew. But if he could make it outside onto the grounds he would be safe from any trouble. It didn't matter much, he had been smart enough to grab the Marauders Map earlier in the evening as he had a feeling he would need it. However he thought he would have been with Scorpius or Rose when he had gone for his evening walk like they had done many times before. But it seemed that things were changing faster than he expected, and he supposed it was time for him to get used to being on his own.

Rose and Scorpius had talked the entire train ride to Hogwarts. The only real time Albus had to talk with Scorpius was when Rose had do her rounds as Prefect. A whole thirty minutes they sat in silence, staring out the window. Albus was annoyed by being ignored by his two best mates that he just found it easier to sit in silence and wait to arrive at Hogwarts. They weren't even actually dating yet, Merlin knows what it would be like when that happened.

Albus had reached the first floor, and quickened his pace as he reached the marble staircase. Looking down at his watch again to check the time he didn't notice the girl running up the marble steps until it was too late. She seemed to be upset, and collided straight into Albus. With a loud cry, Albus found himself knocked over and pinned by the girl in Hufflepuff robes.

"Oh, I'm so-sorry I wasn't lo-looking where I was going." The girl quickly got off of Albus and stood up to straighten her robes. Her brown her was a mess, covering her face. As she began brushing it away Albus recognized the girl to be Laura Smith, a fellow seventh year. Her face was a deep shade of red, and at first Albus believed it was from embarrassment but he noticed there were tears in her eyes, and the end of her nose a bright red. She was crying, and before Albus could stand up she began to sob. "S-s-sorry again." She stuttered again, and continued to run down the corridor.

"Blimey," Albus found himself saying. Standing up, he dusted himself off and stretched out his back which was now sore. Checking the his wand and map were still intact in his back pocket he shook off the strange occurrence. Continuing down the marble steps he aimed for the large oak front doors that were shut. As he reached to open them, he heard the sound of voices behind him, and glancing back he saw two very worried looking girls, Eliza Smith and Jane Bennet.

"I didn't know she had a sister." Jane said feverishly to Eliza.

"Yes, a twin sister. I should've told you before it was- oh Albus!" Eliza waved Albus over, and he turned to her.

"Hi Eliza, what can I do?" Albus asked. Eliza and Jane were both in his year, and had been best mates since first year. They were nice girls, but were gossips and would often be found giggling. Albus couldn't quite remember ever seeing them look so serious before.

"Did you see my cousin, Laura run by? It's important," Eliza asked.

"Uh yeah, crashed into her actually. She looked upset." Albus said, feeling a bit awkward.

"Oh no, really upset? Was she crying? She just ran out of the common room before I could stop her." Jane asked quickly.

Albus blinked at her. "What's wrong with her?"

"Her sister died a month ago," Jane explained.

"Jane!" Eliza punched her friend hard on the arm.

Albus frowned, "That's awful." He felt bad for the girl, especially when she clearly had two idiot friends to depend on.

"I didn't really know her, my cousin." Eliza said looking at her hands. "We should probably go find her, thanks Albus."

"Not a problem," Albus said uncomfortably. Standing still he watched Eliza hurry up the steps, pulling Jane along with her. "Poor girl, I would've run too." With that he turned back to the doors and pushed them open and walked across the damp grass towards the forbidden forest. He could see light in Hagrid's hunt but decided that he did not wish to visit the elderly half-giant. Instead he aimed for the lake, cutting past the greenhouses and vegetable patches. He could hear students not far off talking, probably coming inside from an evening stroll. It was nearing curfew, but Albus felt it would be a very long time before he would heading back in. The school seemed very chaotic on his first day back, but in reality it was always that way. Since the last war the school had been experiencing a surplus in students leading too larger grades and classes and subsequently this meant it was harder for the staff to keep them under control. Professor Longbottom could often be heard complaining about it to Albus' parents.

Walking along the edge of the forest Albus made his way to the lake where he spotted the schools herd of Threstals drinking. The half moon lit the path towards the shoreline, and Albus cautiously approached a spot on the rocks not too far from the creatures. A few of them looked up at him when he took his spot on the rocks but for the most part they kept to themselves. Albus had been aware of these creatures long before he attended school from his parents and uncles when they felt chatty. He had been told that he would only see them if he had seen someone die. He was shocked however when he arrived for his second year and found that the carriages were being pulled by the creatures his father had long ago described. But they were harmless enough and after talking with James he discovered he too could see them.

"_Because we saw Lily die," Albus had suggested._

"_That's what dad thinks." James agreed._

Albus often wondered how many people could see them. But by large the carriages were referred as the horseless carriages, and he assumed that the few who could see the Threstals most likely kept it to themselves. That's how things worked in Hogwarts, everyone just followed the crowd. Well, perhaps not in the same way as their parents had. After all his best mate was Scorpius Malfoy – the last person his entire family expected.

"So stupid to come back. Stuck with these stupid people, and these stupid clothes. Should've said no, should've never come back."

Albus turned behind him to see none other than Laura Smith walking rather clumsily down the path towards the lake. She was waving her hands madly, a hanky dangling in her left hand. She seemed to still be crying, and her hair was in an even bigger mess than before.

"I should have stayed home." She said, stopping only a few metres behind Albus. Looking up, she pushed her hair behind her ears.

"Er, hello," Albus greeted. He watched as her eyes grew wide upon recognizing him. Then suddenly she looked terrified, and Albus noticed that her attention was on the Threstals.

"What are they?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

Albus wasn't quite sure what to say or do at first. She looked upset and a little scared, but ultimately just curious. He felt bad for her, she seemed out of sorts. Getting to his feet he walked over to the closest Threstal and slowly raised his hand to rubs it's beaked nose. "They're called Threstals. Bad omens to some, mostly because the ability to see them means you have seen death."

"Oh of course it's death." Laura grumbled, pocketing her hanky. Running her hands through her hair, and wiping her face with the sleeve of her robes. "Erm, sorry for bothering you again, twice now." Laura said in a forced tone. Turning her back on Albus she began to follow the path along the lake towards the castle.

Albus watched her go, feeling sorry that she was so distraught. She seemed like a nice girl, if not a little mad with the talking to herself but she had a valid reason. He was surprised that she had even come back to school if her sister had only died a month ago. Albus couldn't imagine what he would do if Lily and James died. He definitely would not have been able to return to school.

"There you are! Scorpius and I have been searching all over for you." Rose was standing at the top of the large hill leading to the lake, Scorpius not far behind. Albus saw him glance at the Threstal to his right but he said nothing. Rose couldn't see them, and had no idea that the entire herd was there. As if they sensed Rose's ignorance they moved away from the water and retreated into the forest.

"Why were you looking for me?" Albus asked walking up the path, meeting them. "Party get boring?"

"More like it got busted. Everyone was sent to bed to sleep and sober up." Scorpius laughed.

"What about you two?" Albus asked. He swore Rose blushed, but it was too dark to tell.

"We left before, looking for you. Saw Professor Longbottom and Professor Pike coming down the corridor as we left." Scorpius explained.

"I borrowed the cloak by the way." Rose said, and Albus noticed the cloak in her hands.

"Good thinking, it's way past curfew." Albus said taking it from her.

"We should get back – you know I don't know how you come out here alone. It is absolutely creepy, I always feel like there's something around watching you." Rose said, looking across the lake nervously.

Albus thought suddenly of Laura, walking alone down the path. She was upset, and suddenly he wondered if she would be okay, and that it was probably better for her to be in the castle then walking alone near the Forbidden Forest.

"Albus are you coming?" both Rose and Scorpius were giving him an odd look, probably wondering what on Earth he was thinking of. 

"Actually, no, I'll be fine. I just need to walk a bit more. Here, take the map," Albus reached into his pocket and handed them the Marauders map. "I've got the cloak so I should be fine."

"Albus just come inside with us. We started school tomorrow, you should really get your sleep." Rose argued, not wanting to take the map.

"Leave him be Rose, I think he can make his own decisions." Scorpius said, taking the map. "See you in the morning then?"

"Yeah, in the morning." Albus gave a small smile. The one thing he liked best about Scorpius is he understood when Albus wanted to be alone, and always managed to convince Rose to leave him alone when he wished.

"Be careful," Rose said, poking him in the shoulder and followed after Scorpius. She looked worried but didn't look back at him.

Sighing, Albus shoved the cloak into his pocket and began walking down the path by the lake. It didn't take him long to find her. She was perched on a rather large rock, her knees pulled up to her chest. She was no longer crying, and she had put her hair into a long pony tail down her back. Albus had to admit, she was kind of pretty. As he moved closer, she heard his footsteps and jumped when she saw him.

"Oh it's you," she said looking away from him and out across the lake.

"Sorry to scare you but," Albus stumbled on some rocks, and almost fell.

"Are you okay?" Laura asked when he regained his footing.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I – uh – I was wanting to make sure you were okay. You seem upset and it's after curfew, and it's not always safe to be by the Forbidden Forest this late at night." Albus explained.

Laura raised an eyebrow at him. "That's really sweet of you but I'm fine. You can go, I'm fine." She repeated and once again looked away from Albus. He knew he was making her uncomfortable, she probably just wanted to be alone. He couldn't blame her for that.

"I know I seem a bit-"

"Weird?" Laura interrupted. Albus wasn't expecting that, but she seemed to want to talk so he let her. "Most blokes would run the other way if they saw a girl crying. But you follow them? Yeah I'd say you're a bit weird. And it's nice, sweet, and whatnot but I'm guessing it's the Gryffindor thing. You don't need to save me or whatever. I'm fine here, and besides you it's been pretty quiet and I like that. So you can go clear of conscious knowing that the weird crying girl refused your help and there was nothing you can do. You know in case some murderous creature comes out of the forest and kills me."

"Okay," Albus said slowly. He felt awkward now. He hadn't really put much thought into going to find her, but she clearly had in the ten seconds that he had appeared before her. Girls are insane, he knew that much.

She shifted on the rock and climbed off it. Glancing behind her at the forest she walked over to where Albus stood. "On second thought the forest is kind of creepy. I'll walk back with you, but you don't have to say anything. Conversation isn't necessary."

"Okay," Albus said again, and he pulled out his cloak. This girl was pretty intent on saying everything on her mind.

"Okay," Laura nodded, and began to walk up the path. Albus followed quietly, and an uncomfortable silence fell between them. They didn't really need to talk, she was right. What would they have to talk about anyway? Albus didn't really know her, and she didn't know him. They had classes together, plenty of them but despite how much she had just said, it was the most he ever remembered hearing her say. Laura was just another one of the masses, and Albus, well he kept to himself. Sure, he was on good terms with everyone but he only ever talked to Rose and Scorpius. Most of his cousins couldn't even get that much out of him. Scorpius often teased him that he should be in Slytherin he was so anti social.

Upon entering the castle Laura thanked him for walking her back and she headed down the steps toward the Hufflepuff dormitories before he could say anything back. It didn't really matter anyway because he wasn't exactly sure what he could say. Pulling the cloak out of his pocket he pulled it over himself. After checking that his ankles were covered he began walking back to the Gryffindor tower. Checking his watch he saw that it was quarter after one, and he groaned to think how tired he would be in the morning.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," Professor Longbottom was behind Albus.

"Sorry Professor," Albus stopped to look at his Professor. Neville couldn't actually see Albus but he had probably heard him groan. It had been discovered years ago that having a Professor who was friends with your father had its positives and negatives. "It won't happen again."

"I know that to be a lie, but next time you may want to try walking a little more quietly – and avoid groaning." Neville smirked.

"You'd think I'd learn," Albus joked and then continued on his way, this time taking time to ensure that he wasn't walking too loudly.


End file.
